Speaker 1: The twenty twenty five Grammy Awards are this weekend, and
Speaker 1: some of the presenters have been have been announced. Earlier
Speaker 1: to day, the Recording Academy revealed that Cardi b. Sizza,
Speaker 1: and Will Smith will join Taylor Swift among the presenters
Speaker 1: at the award show. One could argue there is a
Speaker 1: big moment for Will Smith, who hasn't presented on this
Speaker 1: big of a stage since slapping comedian Chris Rock at
Speaker 1: the Oscars in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2: Smith did perform at the BET Awards last.
Speaker 1: Summer, but that's been about it in terms of appearing
Speaker 1: at major award shows.
Speaker 2: By the way, the Grammys will also celebrate the life.
Speaker 1: Of Quincy Jones, in addition to the resilience of Los
Speaker 1: Angeles amid the ongoing fires in the city. But I
Speaker 1: want to focus on Will Smith. Obviously, I've been critical
Speaker 1: of Will Smith because I'm a friend of Chris Rocks
Speaker 1: and I don't appreciate what Will did.
Speaker 2: But I want to thank several people.
Speaker 1: I want to thank my man Charlie Mack, who is
Speaker 1: a bodyguard and a longtime friends span in decades.
Speaker 2: For Will Smith.
Speaker 1: I want to thank the great Antoine Food, the director
Speaker 1: and producer extraordinaire who did Emancipation with Will Smith would
Speaker 1: have won an Oscar for that too, had Will Smith not.
Speaker 2: Slapped Chris Rock.
Speaker 1: I want to thank Will Packer, who produced the oscars,
Speaker 1: that same oscars that Will Smith did what he did
Speaker 1: with Chris Rock.
Speaker 2: I want to thank my man Dougie.
Speaker 1: Cash, who used to work at Hulu and used to
Speaker 1: work under Will Smith years ago, and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: They weren't the only ones, but primarily those four brothers
Speaker 1: reached out to me directly, and Charlie Mack was the
Speaker 1: most profound because I had said something about Will Smith
Speaker 1: prior to Bad Boys, Rod to Die Coming Out, which
Speaker 1: by the way, was a fantastic movie I've now seen
Speaker 1: about five times, and Charlie Mack said, what about Grace
Speaker 1: Stephen aing.
Speaker 2: He made a mistake. And I explained to Charlie Mack.
Speaker 1: That as bad as I thought it was to be
Speaker 1: slapping a black man on national television, what really vexed.
Speaker 2: Me most was.
Speaker 1: How it would affect Will Packer, how it would affect
Speaker 1: Antoine Fuqua, how it would affect Chris Rock. And I
Speaker 1: thought about the collateral damage that would take fold and
Speaker 1: how it would detrimentally affect opportunities for all of us
Speaker 1: down the line. And I just found myself asking how
Speaker 1: could he do that? How could he lose himself and
Speaker 1: hurt all of us like that? But Will Smith is
Speaker 1: a fantastic artist who's done so much for so many
Speaker 1: people in this world, especially stuff you know, folks from
Speaker 1: our community that the reality is is they were right.
Speaker 1: And I've known that for quite some times, which is
Speaker 1: why I haven't said anything from Will Smith. To see
Speaker 1: him in the movies is a great thing. To see
Speaker 1: him still thriving is a great thing. Chris Rockins moved
Speaker 1: on with his life, who says Will Smith isn't entitled
Speaker 1: to do so himself, And to think about him coming
Speaker 1: back to the big stage and being at the awards
Speaker 1: and what have you. I'm quite sure he'll get a
Speaker 1: good ovation, and it'll be because none of us want
Speaker 1: to be measured by our worst moment. All of us
Speaker 1: are flawed in the eyes of God. I knew that before,
Speaker 1: but I know that even now, and my man and
Speaker 1: Dougie and Antoine Fouqua and the Will Packer, and especially
Speaker 1: to my man Charlie Mac, I just want to say
Speaker 1: thank you I want to say thank you for reminding
Speaker 1: me of something I should have known all along. Despite
Speaker 1: what Will Smith did, he still wanted the great ones
Speaker 1: and he's one of the genuine good guys. He made
Speaker 1: a mistake, and all of us should move on, especially
Speaker 1: since Chris Rock has moved on, and we should just
Speaker 1: march ahead and wish him nothing but the best to.
Speaker 2: Him and his family. That's where I'm at with it.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to say that one